author
William Chaffers
1811–1892
Best known for turning the tricky world of antique hallmarks and ceramic marks into practical reference books, this Victorian antiquary helped generations of collectors identify what they had found. His works on pottery, porcelain, and gold and silver plate stayed influential long after their first publication.
1 Audiobook
The Collector's Handbook to Keramics of the Renaissance and Modern Periods
by William Chaffers
About the author
Born in London on 28 September 1811, William Chaffers became an English antiquary and a writer of reference books rather than a novelist or poet. He is chiefly remembered for guides to hallmarks and to marks on pottery and porcelain, fields where careful comparison and clear organization mattered enormously.
His best-known book, Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain, first appeared in 1863 and was reissued in later editions, showing how useful readers found it. He also wrote on gold and silver plate, helping collectors, dealers, and museum-minded readers navigate the identifying marks used on decorative objects.
Chaffers died on 12 April 1892. Even now, he stands out as one of those diligent nineteenth-century writers whose books made specialist knowledge much easier for ordinary readers to use.